


Beginnings

by NightSwimmer



Category: Call the Midwife
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-19 16:02:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9449342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightSwimmer/pseuds/NightSwimmer
Summary: It's 1955 and Delia Busby begins training at the London...





	1. 1955

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I've been fiddling around with this piece for a few weeks now and I figured the only way I'll actually finish it properly is to start posting it. I think I've read pretty much every fic that's been posted about these two so I thought it was time I made my own contribution just to say thanks to all the great authors out there; your work is fantastic and I spend way too much time reading it when I should be studying...
> 
> So here's a take on how Delia and Patsy could have met, from Delia's point of view, trying to fit it into the timeline of the show and the character bios online. It's in 3 parts with each chapter a different year: 1955, 1957 and 1958. I've tried to figure out how nurse training would have been in these years, but there's not a huge amount of information about it online, so I've used quite a bit of creative licence.
> 
> I haven't got a beta reader, but hopefully I've ironed out most of the mistakes. If anyone fancies helping me to finish the next two chapters then let me know...

As she stepped from the bus Delia was greeted with the smell of petrol, smoke and an underlying scent of grime and perspiration. Having been accustomed to the rumble of the bus and the mumblings of the other passengers for the best part of a day she was happy to hear new noises: the sound of countless cars and vans; the bustle of people walking to and from work or going out to enjoy their evenings; cafes and shops being shut up for the day and bars and pubs just getting going.

A grin broke out across her face as she took it all in. A far cry from the small town of Tenby, her home for the past eighteen and a bit years. She’d been to London once before, six years ago, to see her Auntie Blod, and ever since then she’d known she wanted to live here, where things always seemed to be going on. The antithesis of her previous home.

Don’t get her wrong, Delia loved growing up by the sea in Wales, playing on the beach and in the hills with the children from school; helping, or rather hindering, her father in his drapery shop and pestering her mother. However, one brief taste of London had captured her 13-year-old heart; the opportunities a sprawling city could supply her ambitious mind far outstretched those open to her in Pembrokeshire.

Unfortunately, her mother didn’t see it the same way; she was angry that Delia rejected what had been enough for her: a loving husband, a respectable position within local society and a beautiful daughter. However, there was no convincing Delia, she had been bitten by the bug and settled on nursing as a means of getting herself to London, leading an independent and fulfilling life in a new and exciting place. She’d worked hard to get here, sacrificing time with her friends and turning down many a date (or at least as many as were available to her in her small home town) to study and ensure she would get on to the programme at the London.

So here she was, stepping off a bus in Whitechapel to begin her new life as a nurse in the capital and she could hardly contain her excitement, even after eight or more hours on a bus.

She pulled a piece of paper from her coat pocket upon which she had neatly written instructions for getting from the bus station to the nurses’ dorms that would be her home for foreseeable future. Having studied the directions, she replaced the paper in her pocket, picked up her suitcase, took a deep breath and set off, grin still plastered upon her face.

“Watch it!” came the angry repost of the man Delia had managed to catch with her bag as she turned to set off, too consumed with excitement to consider the busy pavement the bus had deposited her on.

“Sorry!” she called after his retreating form, a slight blush creeping to her cheeks. Perhaps not the greatest start to her new life, but only a small set-back. She sighed and allowed herself a smile before setting off again, being careful to check where the other pavement users were this time.

Half an hour later Delia found herself guided to a simple room with two beds, a basin and two nightstands. Apparently her roommate had already arrived and unpacked, but was nowhere to be seen. She took the time alone to unpack her case, she’d brought mainly clothes, some anatomy books and a picture of her and her mam and dad taken last Christmas which she placed on the nightstand with a nostalgic smile; this was the first time she would be away from home without her parents for longer than a week and this time it had felt much more final than saying goodbye for a week away with her cousins in Anglesey. There hadn’t been much room for anything else since she could only bring what she could carry between the bus station and her new home as her parents didn’t have a car or the time to drive all the way from Tenby to London and back. After hanging her dresses in the small wardrobe beside her new roommates Delia lay on the bed, the long journey finally catching up with her.

She must have fallen asleep as the next thing she knew she was awoken by an unfamiliar girl gently shaking her arm. “Sorry to wake you, but matron’s calling us for dinner and I don’t think she’d take kindly to any absentees.” Came the soft voice of the girl Delia slowly blinked into focus. She looked around the same age as Delia, with short, curled, blonde hair.

“Thank you” she said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes slightly, trying to wake up, “I didn’t mean to drop off.” She swung her legs off the bed, noting she hadn’t even bothered to take off her shoes. “The journey here really took it out of me.”

“Did you have far to come?” the other girl asked with a smile, clearly finding Delia’s sleep-muddled demeanour somewhat amusing.

“From Pembrokeshire in Wales, I never thought I’d get here.” Delia smiled, finally feeling awake enough to stand. “I’m Delia by the way” she said, offering her hand to the girl.

“Betty” the other girl replied, taking Delia’s offered hand and giving it a shake, “it’s nice to meet you, roomy” she grinned, “but now we really must be getting down to dinner.”

“Nice to meet you too, lead the way.” Delia gestured to the door with another smile. Well, her roommate seemed nice, it was good of her to wake her up, Delia thought, it would be typical if she’d managed to make a bad impression even without meeting matron.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh mam, it’s great in London, there’s always so much going on, so much to do. Betty and I and the other girls went to the pictures on our nights off to see the latest films, we didn’t have to wait months like you do here. And there are so many people, you barely see the same person twice when you walk out, and all so busy. It’s fantastic!”

“I don’t know how you can say that; to forever be surrounded by strangers, it sounds awful!” Her mother snipped back, moving to take another sip of tea. Delia looked exasperatedly at her mother before sighing and settling back in her chair. She’d returned home having successfully completed the first nine weeks of her training, passing her exams with flying colours. They had been given a week’s leave before beginning the next stage of training: three years practical training on the wards.

“I wonder you had time to go out with all that studying you should have been doing, I thought that was why you went there in the first place.” Her mum began, replacing her tea cup on its saucer.

“Mam, you know I was studying hard, I was top of the class! You can’t expect me to be locked up in my room reading all day, the other girls would think me a swot, or a snob.” Delia said with a hint of frustration. Her mother gave her a somewhat dark look and Delia raised her eyebrows and sighed.

“Come on Edith, Delia’s doing very well.” Her father smiled warmly at her and Delia replied with a genuine smile of her own, thankful that at least her father understood her reasons for heading to the big smoke for a bit of adventure. “I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying yourself, we’re very proud.”

Her mother gave a slight huff, but Delia chose to ignore it. She knew her mother missed her, though she may not care to admit it in so many words, and was concerned for her safety, though she couldn’t understand why, she was a sensible girl and could hardly get into much trouble with the all-seeing eye of matron and the ward sisters watching over her and all the other trainees. In truth, Delia wished she could have gone out more, most of their nights spent in the other trainees’ rooms, one girl, Dot, had a record player that they would listen to while discussing the day’s exploits, occasionally sharing a bottle of something one of them had managed to sneak past matron. The nights were certainly fun, but Delia longed to go out dancing and exploring the city some more, she hoped that now they were done with training they would be afforded a little more time off, and the chance to mix with some new faces and hopefully some opportunities for a few adventures.

“Anyway Delia, I’m sure your mother would love to hear about the London chaps; have you stolen anyone’s heart yet?” Her father teased good-naturedly, dissipating the slight tension that had crept into the room as Delia blushed slightly and scoffed.

“Dad! Honestly!” She moaned. Her father laughed and even her mother allowed a small smile. “I’m going to go and see cousin Nancy!” And with that she rose from her seat and exited the room, feigning annoyance much to her father’s amusement. She quickly climbed the stairs to retrieve her coat and shoes from her room, which had remained untouched since she left it. As she exited the room she heard her father talking downstairs and paused on the landing, her ears burning.

“Well she was never going to be a draper,” she heard her father say, causing her to smile. No matter how much she tried she never could get the hang of even sewing on a button, “and you know she’d never be happy until she’s had a taste of life in a city. Don’t be hard on her for not wanting to be just like her parents dear.”

“I wanted to be” her mother replied grimly. She gave a sad smile, she didn’t want to disappoint her mother, but she couldn’t lie, a quiet life in Tenby, following the footsteps of countless generations before her, settling down with a husband and being surrounded by ankle-biters by her mid-twenties, had never been her intended path. She had studied hard and ignored the advances of any would-be suitors while her cousins and classmates had been going weak at the knees for James Dean, and managed to get herself into nurse training at the London. Truth be told, Delia never felt that she was missing out, she enjoyed working hard and loved learning about anatomy and basic first aid, even when she was a little girl she would rather practice bandaging her dolls than brush their hair. And while she could appreciate that James Dean was very handsome, she never felt she really got what all the fuss was about. Now, after all of her hard work had finally paid off and she had made it onto the course she’d always hoped to, living in the place she’d always dreamed of, she had little intention to marry and give it all up just to please her mother, no matter how much she loved her.

She thundered downstairs and into the sitting room. “I’m off, I’ll be back for dinner” she called to her parents as she headed out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~

Delia had been assigned to male surgical for her first placement and today was her first day. She was up and ready at 7.30am for breakfast and prayers before the day commenced with the three other girls, including Betty, who’d also been assigned to the ward.

“What if I forget how to tie a bandage, or trip and drop a bedpan, or catch a patient with a safety pin, or-“

“Betty, it’ll be fine, all we’ve been doing for the past two months is tying bandages and learning how to take care of patients, I doubt you’ll have forgotten it all in a week.” Delia cut in to stop her roommates’ nervous rambling. She’d learnt Betty was a worrier during the course of the past nine weeks, especially as exams approached, but thankfully the tips they’d learnt for easing the worries of patients had come in handy; it was just a shame Betty herself hadn’t realised that.

“That’s easy for you to say, you were top of the class!” Betty countered. Delia gave her an incredulous look, eyebrows aloft.

“And you weren’t too far behind if I remember correctly. Try and calm down a bit, I doubt we’ll be doing a lot for ourselves for the first few days.” She tried to sooth the nerves of the blonde, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder as the staff nurses and ward sister came to join them for prayers before the day shift began.

“Good morning girls, I hope you’re well rested after your week off and ready to start the hard work.” The ward sister greeted after prayers had ended; she wasn’t as stern as matron, but Delia still didn’t fancy crossing her. “You’ll each be assigned to a staff nurse who’ll guide you through the first days of your training; they will assign your tasks and will be your first port of call should you have any problems or questions.”

Delia looked to the line of five nurses who stood behind the ward sister as she made this speech. Some looked only a few years older than herself, while one or two looked like they’d been working on the ward for quite some years. She wondered if she’d be one of those lined up, eyeing-up the new recruits in a couple of years; she’d make sure not to look quite as intimidating as one or two of them, particularly the tall blonde nurse who stood appraising them with a rather stern look. Knowing her luck, she’d end up paired with her. Though it wasn’t in Delia’s nature to be intimidated she would feel somewhat nervous about asking that nurse a question, she didn’t look like the sort of person who’d suffer fools gladly. Although, Delia didn't mind a challenge.

“Elizabeth Shaw” the ward sister began, looking up from the clip board she held, catching Delia’s roommate’s eye and offering a smile, “you’ll be paired with Nurse Mount.” The stern blonde nurse Delia had singled out as stern gave Betty curt nod and Delia thought she felt her roommate tense beside her, clearly she hadn’t been the only one to decide Nurse Mount would make a formidable mentor. Delia offered Betty what she hoped was an encouraging smile, but she wasn’t convinced she’d pulled it off.

“Delia Busby” came the ward sister’s voice, capturing her attention.

“Present!” her voice cheerfully rang out before its owner had time to realise she wasn’t answering a register.

“Quite…” replied he ward sister with a raised eyebrow. Delia went red. ‘Well, there goes the first impression’ she thought. She caught the eye of who she now knew to be Nurse Mount who appeared to be supressing a smirk; Delia resolved she was very glad to not be paired with the woman, she didn’t like feeling she was being looked down upon. “You are paired with Nurse Brown.”

A chestnut brown-haired woman slightly taller than Delia gave her a warm smile; hopefully she’d found her slip-up more endearing than pitiful.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh how mortifying, I sounded like a school-girl!” Delia moaned as she flopped face-first into her pillow. Betty lay down on her back on her bed releasing a relieved sigh as she kicked off her shoes, happy to finally be done with the twelve-hour day.

“If it’s any consolation it made me feel much better about the day” the blonde grinned as she turned to face Delia who was lying on her front, her head turned to Betty with raised eyebrows.

“Well I’m glad my embarrassment helped to sooth your nerves” she replied sarcastically, rolling onto her back to stare at the ceiling. “Do you think they’ll have us washing bedpans for the next three years?” she asked. “Who would have guessed just how many bedpans a ward of twenty men could get through?”

Betty gave a grim laugh, “And to think I was worried about tying bandages, I’d have jumped at the chance to do that rather than scrub another bedpan! How was your mentor, Nurse Brown was it?”

“Oh, she was very nice, she apologised every time she sent me to scrubbing and she seemed to have a good way with the patients. I think I’ll learn a lot from her.” Delia replied, rolling onto her side to face Betty. “How about Nurse Mount? I’m sorry you seem to have been paired with the sternest nurse on the ward, I rather felt I’d dodged a bullet when the ward sister said you two were paired.”

“Oh thanks” was Betty’s sarcastic reply, earning a grin from Delia. “She wasn’t so bad, very professional, but she seemed to have a good way with the patients; she certainly doesn’t take any nonsense and she warned me not to take any from the patients either. Though I think I’d much rather have been paired with Nurse Brown, she seemed more… chatty, I suppose.”

“Mmm, I wonder someone so stern would choose to be a nurse.” Delia pondered.

“You could say the same about matron” Betty replied with a smile.

“I suppose so. Though I didn’t like the way she smirked when I blurted ‘present’ at the ward sister.” Delia replied somewhat distantly. Betty laughed.

“Well it was rather funny Delia” she smiled, “though I didn’t see her smirking, I think you’re letting your pride get the better of you.” Delia raised her eyebrows at that comment, she wasn’t proud, she just didn’t like to feel belittled, even if she had made a bit of a fool of herself. “Come on anyway, let’s get changed out of these clothes and see how the others got on, I hear Maggy’s managed to smuggle in a bottle of Johnnie Walker and I don’t want to miss out!” Betty pulled Delia from her thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Miss Busby” the ward sister called as Delia was about to make her way to the ward to commence the sixth week of her rotation on the male surgical ward, finally coming back on to day service after a week of nights.

“Yes sister?”

“You shall be reporting to Nurse Mount today.” The sister must have noticed the slight look of trepidation on her face so added, “she is an excellent nurse, make the most of your time with her.” Delia tried to disguise her expression more successfully than before.

“Certainly sister.” She replied, turning to continue her walk into the ward. She’d had gotten over the initial embarrassment of her first day and had risen to the challenge of male surgical, negotiating overly friendly and sometimes patronising patients and progressing beyond just being assigned to scrubbing bedpans and sterilizing equipment; though obviously as the new-girls the first-year students were still expected to do more than their fair share of the more menial tasks on the ward. She had also managed to avoid Nurse Mount for the most part, having been busy with Nurse Brown and then being put on various mixes of night and day shifts so that she rarely worked with the same group of nurses twice in a week.

“Nurse Mount?” Delia said when she reached the tall, blonde woman who had her back to her, sorting through the supply cupboard. She turned with an armful of bandages and gave the trainee nurse a polite smile.

“Nurse Busby, help me with these bandages?” she said as placed them in the shorter woman’s arms without waiting for a reply. “So, I have you to help me today then, well, let’s get to it! I promise not to make you clean too many bedpans, though that’s not really down to me…” She gave a warm smile and Delia thought that maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad day after all.

“The sentiment is appreciated.” She replied with a genuine smile.

“First things first, we’ll check on the patients.” She said, closing the cupboard door. “Oh, the bandages, put those on that table over there, we’ll deal with those in a minute.” They began walking, Nurse Mount taking the lead as Delia followed a couple of paces behind.

“Mr Owen, how are you feeling today?” the blonde nurse asked with a bright smile.

~~~~~~~~~~

“It was Delia, wasn’t it?” Nurse Mount asked as they sat down for lunch: leek and potato soup and a wholemeal roll. Delia nodded her assent. “I’m Patience, though most people call me Patsy; Nurse Mount seems a little formal away from the ward.” She explained when Delia gave her an odd look.

“I know, you were my roommate’s mentor for the first week or so.” Delia replied.

“Ah, Nurse Shaw, I forgot you trainees had to share rooms, how is she doing, enjoying male surgical?” Patsy asked, taking a spoonful of soup.

“Not enjoying being on nights this week, they’ll take some getting used to I think.”

“They do, but after a while you learn to live with it, all part of the job I’m afraid, and not just on male surgical.” Patsy replied with a somewhat apologetic smile. They went to eating for a short while, the morning’s work giving them quite an appetite.

“So, what brings you to the London, Delia, if that isn’t too intrusive a question?” Patsy asked after they’d taken the edge off their hunger.

“Not at all,” she replied, “I’ve always wanted to live in London, and I had a desire to do something meaningful with my life, and nursing, helping people who most need it, seemed an obvious choice.”

“Why did you want to live in London if you don’t mind my asking?” Pasty replied, giving Delia her full attention.

“I have an aunt who lives in Hornsey, my parents and I visited when I was thirteen and I fell in love with the hustle and bustle, it was quite a change from Pembrokeshire, where I grew up, and ever since then I’ve wanted to live here.”

“It is quite exciting; though I feel I hardly have much chance to get out and enjoy it.” Patsy replied, turning back to her soup. Delia felt somewhat crestfallen; while she had loved what little experience of nursing she’d had so far she hoped that she wouldn’t have to work all the time, she wanted to enjoy the freedom of living in the city too. The older nurse noticed her slightly downtrodden look and qualified her answer, “I suppose I don’t have a great deal of impetus to explore though, my father lived in London while I was at school, so I had lots of chance to see the sights in the holidays.”

Delia noted that the older woman had only referred to her father as living here and wondered where her mother was, though thought better than to ask seen as she hardly knew her. She also noted that Patsy had gone away to school, which was perhaps not surprising given her posh accent and formal mannerisms, she was clearly from a different class to that which Delia had been brought up in, but she didn’t seem snobbish with it, as Delia had originally assumed she would be. She felt somewhat ashamed for making such a snap decision about the woman based on first impressions. She’d hated it when some of the other trainees had made snide or patronizing remarks for the first week thanks to her accent; though she’d soon set them straight with her impressive work ethic and even better brain. Perhaps Patsy was similar, she certainly seemed very hard working and professional, if a little stiff, but that might just be a result of her upbringing, it was clear she didn’t mean anything by it.

“Well I am jealous, I would have loved to spend my holidays in London.” Delia replied with an enthusiasm which Patsy responded to with a small smile tinged with sadness and went back to her soup, leaving Delia somewhat bemused. Again, she decided not to probe, but found herself increasingly intrigued by the woman in front of her. It had been quite nice spending the morning on the ward with her. The ward sister was right in her recommendation, she certainly was a nurse Delia could learn a lot from and she hoped this wouldn’t be the only day she’d get to spend with her.

“You’re nothing at all like I imagined.” Delia stated, not realising she’d spoken until the words were out of her mouth. Patsy looked up from her soup surprised.

“Imagined?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. The Welsh nurse blushed, she had to get a grip on these unexpected outbursts, they’d get her in trouble one day, if they hadn’t already. She sounded like a kook…

“I- sorry, I’m making a habit of this, I didn’t mean to say that.” Patsy gave her a smirk as Delia tried to avoid eye-contact.

“And what exactly did you imagine Nurse Busby?” Delia flushed again as her stomach gave an odd flutter at the words. Her eyes flashed to Patsy, but the older nurse looked remarkably innocent. What on earth had gotten into her today?

After taking a second to compose herself she replied, “I only mean, you seemed a bit intimidating my first day on the ward, though Betty, Nurse Shaw, assured me you weren’t, well, not as much as I had thought.” Patsy gave a wry smile at that.

“I’m glad you don’t think me too intimidating now, but you have to allow me a little fun with the new recruits, the staff nurses did the same to us and a year on male surgical really toughens you up, if training hasn’t already.” She allowed Delia a warm smile, “anyway, that’s enough chitchat, we should be getting back to check on Mr Johnson’s dressing.” With that she stood and took up her tray leaving Delia to gaze after her until she collected her thoughts and moved to follow. She’d only known Patience Mount a few hours, but already she felt she was someone to be admired. It was a shame she would have to leave for her next rotation so soon.


	2. 1957

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's part 2, it's rather long and fluffy... It's set 2 years after the previous chapter when Delia returns to male surgical for the final year of her training. Again, I really have no idea if it's realistic as I'm not a nurse and I was born quite a few decades after the 1950s, but hopefully it makes a nice story. Thanks everyone who's reviewed and left kudos, I really appreciate it and I hope this chapter is also to your liking.
> 
> I've got lots of deadlines coming up in the next couple of weeks so I'm not sure when I'll have the final chapter up, but I didn't see the point in sitting on this one since it's finished.
> 
> Anyway, without further ado, I hope you enjoy...

Delia had been stationed back on male surgical for the final year of her training having been seen to have what it takes for surgical nursing. She had spent the last two years on rotation in various units, from accident and emergency to a rather unpleasant period on ear, nose and throat; she felt sorry for the girls who had been selected to complete their training there… She was glad to finally get the chance to spend more time in the same place so that should could put all her newly acquired skills to use and feel like she was becoming more than just a student. No, she wasn’t over-joyed at being assigned to male surgical, she found accident and emergency a bit more exciting and the patients far more diverse, but she knew that the chance to become a surgical nurse was something she couldn’t pass-up, there would be plenty of time to try another department after training was complete.

She’d spent the day moving into her new room, finally having the luxury of her own space. It had been nice sharing with Betty, but having never had to share a room before the novelty soon wore-off, especially as they were often working different shift patterns. Moving into a new dormitory block, away from the younger trainees added to the feeling that she was finally progressing towards becoming a fully-fledged nurse, a fully-fledged adult. She glanced at the photo of her parents she’d placed on her bedside table, just as she had in her previous room, smiling fondly at the image. She’d spent the previous week back visiting her parents in Wales. It had been nice to relax for more than a couple of days, or at least relax as much as her mother would allow. However, it was getting harder to visit home the longer she lived in London, creating her own life which owed less and less to the influence of her parents. The weight of her mother’s expectations would start to feel oppressive and it was clear that she still saw her as the girl that left two years ago, not the woman she was two years later. As much as Delia loved her mam, and she knew that her mother loved her too, underneath all of her disapproval and dismay, she could never go back to living with her again. So she was glad to be here, in what was to be her new home. It was modest, but it was hers; well, so long as she worked for the hospital, but that was beside the point.

She gave the photograph one more glance before taking a calming breath and heading out to begin the next year of her life.

“Nurse Busby, you’re early.” The ward sister commented as the young brunette approached the desk at which she sat. Delia could swear it sounded almost like an admonishment, but decided to respond with a bright smile, hopefully communicating her eagerness to start.

“Good evening sister, I couldn’t wait to get started.” She replied brightly.

“Quite. Well, it saves me a lecture on punctuality, I hope your enthusiasm won’t be short-lived.” It would be if she had to work all evening with the sister, she thought. “Nurse Mount will be supervising this evening, she will be here presently I’m sure.” The ward sister said, going back to looking over the documents she was signing prior to Delia’s entry, leaving the brunette to stand in front of the desk feeling somewhat dumbfounded. She hadn’t been expecting a warm welcome, she’d had enough experience of the ward sisters at the hospital to know better than that, but this was a little more brusque than she was used to. It must have been a testing day, she hoped the night wouldn’t prove to be also.

“Nurse Smith, is there anything I need to be made aware of before I take you off your shift?” Delia turned at the sound of the voice addressing one of the other nurses on the ward, feeling she recognised it. She smiled with recognition, she had been too distracted by the curt address of the ward sister to properly register what she’d been saying. She hadn’t spoken to Nurse Mount since her last stint on male surgical. She was happy to see the older woman was still working on the ward, while she’d had many good teachers over the course of her rotations she felt that the foundation the blonde nurse gave her had set her in good stead for dealing with testing patients and colleagues.

As Nurse Mount finished her conversation with the nurse she was relieving from duty and wished her goodnight she turned to see Delia and a smiled warmly at her, surprising the younger woman.

“Nurse Busby, it’s good to have you back.” She greeted brightly as she approached her. Delia returned the smile and felt a blush creep across her cheeks, flattered that the senior nurse had remembered her.

“It’s good to be back,” she replied, feeling a newfound enthusiasm for male surgical.

The taller nurse answered with a smile before heading over to speak to the ward sister as Delia began to busy herself straitening up an unoccupied bed.

“Nurse Busby?” the older nurse called to her after she’d finished talking to the ward sister who had completed her paperwork and was now leaving the ward. Delia looked up to where the other nurse stood going over the records of the patients currently occupying the ward. She beckoned her over and Delia dutifully obliged, walking across the ward to join her. “It would seem it’s been quite the busy day” she began as Delia reached her, moving to allow her to see the records, “we’ve had four patients discharged, two brought in and we’re expecting another three tomorrow morning. Mr Tanner will require his blood pressure to be taken every other hour” she discretely motioned to an elderly man in the bed closest to the ward entrance, “and Mr Pevensey will need his drain changing at midnight.” She made a similar gesticulation to another man currently sat reading on the other side of the ward. Delia ensured she committed the information to memory as Nurse Mount handed her the records to look over herself. “Is this your first shift back on male surgical?” she enquired.

Delia nodded the affirmative, glancing up from the records to look at the other nurse. “It is.”

“Well, I shall do my best to make it as smooth a reintroduction as possible, but it seems the fates are conspiring against us” she replied with a frown.

“I don’t mind a challenge” Delia answered, prompting the older nurse to raise an eyebrow and flash her a smile.

“I’m glad to hear” she replied before turning to check on a patient on the other side of the ward leaving Delia to look over the records, determined not to eat her words.

~~~~~~~~~~

Delia had managed her first shift on male surgical just fine, working especially hard to prove her worth to the older nurse who seemed to have changed little since their first meeting, maintaining her professional demeanour and ruthless drive for efficiency throughout the shift. However, she occasionally proffered brief glimpses of a more playful nature underneath that drew the Welsh nurse in. Delia found that she quickly began to anticipate the shifts she shared with Nurse Mount, or Patsy as she insisted away from the ward, with a bit more excitement than was probably normal, but Delia had never bothered too much with normal.

As the next couple of weeks passed Delia began to feel she was becoming one of the team on the ward. The other nurses were all very welcoming and the other trainee she had been assigned to the ward with, Mary, was nice enough and certainly very capable. Delia was an instant hit with the patients, her naturally chatty disposition and propensity for smiling helped to set most of them at ease. She found she also enjoyed being able to observe and assist in surgeries, finally putting all that studying of surgical equipment into practice. The surgeons could be somewhat patronising and brusque, but she chose not to take it personally, instead pushing herself to ensure that they never had a legitimate reason to criticise her work.

She placed her tray down opposite Mary’s. She had a milky tea and a large bowl of porridge with jam to set her up for what promised to be a long shift: she was scheduled to observe two surgeries this morning and take part fully in another that afternoon and all of that would be interspersed with sterilising equipment and more general cleaning as well as checking on patients and trying to appease the ward sister. “Morning Mary” she said brightly.

“Morning,” the other nurse replied as Delia arranged herself at the table, “are you observing surgeries today as well?”

Delia nodded her assent as she took a spoonful of porridge. “Yes, a cholecystectomy and a hernia repair this morning, are you in for the same ones?” she replied having finished the mouthful.

“I’m not sure, possibly, who’s the lead nurse?”

“Patsy” Delia replied absentmindedly as she prepared herself another mouthful of porridge.

“Patsy?” Mary asked causing Delia’s spoon-wielding hand to pause halfway on its course to her mouth.

“Oh, Nurse Mount, sorry” Delia replied with a slight blush she covered by allowing the spoon to continue on its intended trajectory. She’d sat and eaten dinner with the blonde nurse last night after they’d finished the day shift together and had gotten used to calling her by her first name off the ward, clearly Mary hadn’t.

“Nurse Mount? I can’t imagine ever being on first name terms with her.” The other nurse replied incredulously.

“Really? Why not?” Delia asked. It was true Patsy wasn’t quite as instantly approachable as the other nurses on the ward, but she wasn’t exactly scary, well, not after you got to know her. Mary clearly didn’t agree; she was regarding her sceptically.

“Well she’s a bit, you know… intimidating” the other nurse replied as she took a sip of tea. Delia gave a short laugh at that.

“Maybe a bit at first, but I think she’s rather fun” Delia replied before going back to her breakfast. She could certainly understand that, the blonde nurse could come across as rather brusque at times, but it was clear that there was more to her than that given the banter they had started to share. Mary didn’t look convinced.

“Maybe with you; I mean she’s nice enough and very good at her job, but fun? I can’t see that.” The other nurse replied before finishing her tea and standing up to take her tray to the kitchen hatch. “I’ve got to go and talk to the ward sister before we start, I’ll see you in a bit” Mary said with a smile before leaving.

Delia contemplated the other nurse’s words. They hadn’t been on the ward for very long and she’d only shared a couple of shifts with both Mary and Patsy, but as she looked back on it now it did seem that they hadn’t hit it off in quite the same way. Patsy was certainly nice to the other trainee and gave her just as much encouragement and guidance as she did Delia, but their interactions never went beyond the strictly professional. Perhaps she and Patsy just didn’t have very much in common, there was nothing wrong with that. Delia couldn’t say she felt too bad about the fact, if anything it made her feel a strange sense of delight that she had access to another side of the woman that wasn’t immediately visible to everyone else; it felt a bit like when your best friend shared their deepest secrets with you at school. She knew it was silly, but it made her happy nonetheless and she’d take all the happiness she could get to make it through another day in the operating theatre with Doctor Tracey…

~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a less than perfect night in Delia’s eyes, while Charlie Ballantyne, one of the junior doctors Delia had met whilst on rotation in accident and emergency, was certainly a charmer he had been handsy all night. She supposed that was to be expected, he had taken her out dancing after all and she wasn’t naïve, well, not after having been here for two years; she’d had a fun evening, but not quite as good as Charlie had obviously thought. He was a good dancer and liked to have a laugh just as much as her, but his cheeky manner had become a bit grating after she’d had to move his hands to the small of her back after they’d gone wandering further south for the sixth time. There were only so many times she could take his impish grin as an apology before she began to get annoyed at his apparent lack of respect for her wishes. The other girls seemed not to mind as much as her, but she wasn’t sure why, who wanted to be fondled in the middle of a crowded dance floor by a man she hardly knew? Admittedly not ever boy seemed to be so shameless, but Delia seemed to have a habit of picking them out…

They reached the entrance to the nurses’ home, Charlie having offered to escort Delia back and not taking no for an answer, a recurring theme it seemed. Delia knew he was angling for a bit more than a kiss, but she had no intention of providing so tried to politely make a speedy getaway.

“Thanks for walking me back, I had a nice evening” she offered politely, “Night then” she tried, turning quickly. Charlie caught her arm before she could execute her intended escape.

“Delia, come on, don’t leave me hanging!” He implored with a toothy grin, when she didn’t look like giving-in he tried again: “Come on, one for the road at least? Didn’t you have a good time?” He said, stepping so that he was stood in-front of her once more, his hand travelling down to hold her hand.

He leaned in and Delia stepped back.

“I had a nice time, I just don’t want to…” Delia trailed off, trying to pull her hand free. Charlie gave a lopsided smile.

“You girls, always trying to act all prim and proper, I won’t tell anyone, your reputation’s safe with me.” He leered, leaning in a second time, Delia took another pace back, successfully throwing off his hand this time.

“I’ll take my chances” Delia snapped, becoming increasingly annoyed at his repeated advances, how many rejections did this boy need before he’d get the message?

“Delia! Delia, is that you?” A voice interrupted, it’s owner rapidly advancing down the pavement towards them.

“Patsy!” Delia cried, never had she been so relieved to see a familiar face. She had been contemplating resorting to slapping Charlie’s wandering hands away, God knows he’d been asking for it all evening, and making a break for it into the nurses’ home.

The older nurse reached them, much to the apparent annoyance of Charlie who was looking rather put out as Patsy gave her brightest smile to the pair before turning exclusively to Delia and raising her eyebrows as Delia gave her a slightly strained smile, clearly indicating her desire to be rid of her date. “Gosh you’ve been out dancing a long time, it’s almost curfew, you must be exhausted!” She said with another excessively bright smile, looking over to Charlie “well done for bringing her back in time”.

“Is it ten already? Well, we’d best get back in before matron has our guts for garters.” Delia said in a brighter voice, “Thanks again Mr Ballantyne!” She said, turning to open the door.

“It’s Charlie!” He called after her rapidly retreating form, holding a hand up dumbly in the air. He looked towards Patsy with more than a little annoyance.

“Night Charlie” Patsy said in her brightest voice, following Delia through the door and leaving the dumbstruck man shaking his head in the entranceway.

Having made it safely into the nurses’ home and out-of-sight of the door Delia collapsed against the wall and turned to Patsy. “Thank you for saving me” she sighed, “I just couldn’t shake him off, he was trying to kiss me all night.”

“He did seem quite persistent.” Patsy replied with a look of distaste. Delia gave a short laugh.

“I don’t think ‘quite’ cuts it…” she shook her slightly, “why are boys always so… _handsy_?”

Patsy gave a bark of laughter, “In my limited experience I’ve found that they often want a bit more than I’m willing to give.” She said with a smirk looking towards Delia who smiled back.

“I’m beginning to agree with that sentiment.” She sighed.

“Did you have a good night besides your date’s unwanted advances?”

“Yes, I love dancing, and he was a fairly good partner, well, for all the quicker songs when he didn’t have a pretence for pawing at me.” Delia rolled her eyes before allowing them to rest on Patsy’s face. “What were you doing out, hot date?” She teased with an playful smirk.

“I wish!” Patsy scoffed, “I was having dinner with some relatives who’re in town for a couple of days, not as fun as dancing I’m afraid.”

“I don’t know, it’s always nice to see family” Delia replied before offering a grin, “especially when they’re only visiting for a couple of days.” Patsy gave her a playfully chastising smile before pushing herself off the wall.

“Matron will be checking the corridors for stragglers soon, we should probably make a move.”

“Oh, is it really nearly ten?” Delia said, pulling back her cardigan sleeve to check her watch. Patsy pulled a face of mock-offence.

“Do you think me a liar nurse Busby?”

“Not at all, a knight in shining armour I’d say.” Delia’s grin was mirrored by Patsy’s who dipped an imaginary cap to the Welsh woman.

“Any time, Miss Busby” she joked before hesitating for a second. “Say, I have a bottle of scotch in my room I’ve been dying to try for a while now, what do you say to giving me an excuse to open it?” Patsy asked, before dipping her eyes from Delia’s. “If you wanted I mean, if you’re not on an early tomorrow, or if you even like scotch, you don’t have to if you don’t fancy it…” Delia was slightly taken aback by the offer and knew her face betrayed the fact, which was what had probably inspired the blonde’s flustered backtracking.

“I’d love to” she smiled warmly. Patsy’s eyes flicked back up to captured Delia’s and mirrored her smile. Delia had no idea why someone as seemingly put together as Patience Mount felt so nervous about asking her for a drink; perhaps she didn’t have people round to her room very often, maybe that was just the way of staff nurses, especially ones that worked as hard as Patsy.

“Excellent, follow me, and keep an eye out for matron” she added with a mischievous glint to her eyes that inspired butterflies in Delia’s stomach. She felt like she would follow her wherever she invited her.

Five minutes later Delia found herself sat on the end of Patsy’s bed as the tall blonde poured two glasses of whiskey. “No ice I’m afraid, I hope that’s not a problem?” She asked as she handed Delia a glass and took a seat at the head of the bed, leaning against the headboard with her legs bent to give Delia plenty of room at the end of the bed. Delia shook her head no, suddenly feeling a little sheepish in the company of the other woman in her private space. The room was fairly bare considering she must have been living there for at least three years. There didn’t seem to be any family photos anywhere, just a few books on the bed-side table and a couple of magazine cut outs of glamourous women and pieces of art stuck above her headboard. She was clearly an intensely private person, even in her own space.

The Welsh nurse took a couple of sips of her drink in quick succession, hoping for some Dutch courage, as Patsy settled on the bed, the smoky taste quite a change from the two rum and cola’s her date had brought her at the dance hall. Patsy gave a contented sigh as she took a sip from her glass. “So where did you find, what was his name again? Charlie?” She asked before taking another sip of her drink.

Delia rolled her eyes. “He was one of the trainee doctors working in accident and emergency, he kept asking me out and I finally relented. I had hoped that after I finished the rotation he would give up the chase, but he managed to track me down. I suppose I was a little flattered, though that soon ended when he got a little overfamiliar during a waltz.” She smiled at Patsy, “at least it’ll keep my mam happy when I next write to her.”

“Do you write often?” Patsy asked.

“Every other week, just to reassure her I’m still alive and haven’t forgotten about her or my Welsh roots” she joked. Patsy gave a warm smile.

“What’s it like, where you come from? Do you miss it?” Patsy asked, clearly interested in the answer. Delia wondered that she was, none of the other girls on her course had ever asked, only ever teasing her about her accent or making the same _hilarious_ joke about sheep.

“My parents live in Tenby, in Pembrokeshire, in a house just off the high-street, where my dad has a drapery shop. It’s right on the coast, with lots of little beaches and a harbour with a spit of land protruding into the sea with an island at its end and seagulls roosting in all the chimney stacks. Then inland it’s surrounded by fields and rolling countryside which my cousins and I used to romp across when we weren’t at school, or when I wasn’t attempting to help my dad in his shop, or begrudgingly doing chores with my mum.” Delia smiled down at her glass, remembering some of the fond memories of her childhood. It’s not that she hated growing up there, just that after eighteen years, if not fewer, she had out-grown the place, much to her mother’s disappointment.

“It sounds idyllic” Patsy said cheerily, Delia smiled at her.

“I suppose you could call it that, if you hadn’t lived there all your life, seeing the same few people every day. It was nice to grow up there, but I’m glad I was accepted onto the training course here, I think another couple of years and I would have accepted even Charlie Ballantyne’s hand just to escape!” she joked. “How about you Pats, where did you grow up?” she enquired. The older woman dipped her eyes from Delia’s to settle on her glass.

“I’ve always lived in cities,” she replied quickly, “well, apart from the years I spent at boarding school in Berkshire, though we didn’t have much freedom to roam around the countryside there.” Patsy drained her glass and gave a tight-lipped smile. “Another?” she asked, walking back towards the chest-of-draws she’d left the bottle on and motioning towards it. Delia shook her head no, she was only halfway through this one. She wondered at Patsy’s somewhat elusive answer, but decided it best not to press the matter, it clearly wasn’t a subject she wanted to dwell on. “And is London living up to your expectations?” Patsy asked as she settled back into her previous position, all hint of awkwardness gone.

Delia brightened. “It is, far more exciting than Tenby! There’s so much going on all the time, and so many people all doing their own thing, but always doing something it seems. It’s great to have all these cinemas and coffee-bars and dancehalls so nearby, even if I haven’t found a partner that lives up to expectations quite yet.” She said with warmth, clearly still excited to be living her childhood dream even after two years of intense nurse-training. Patsy smiled in return. “Though I haven’t seen as much as I would have liked, training doesn’t leave a lot of time for sight-seeing and the other girls had already seen most of the sights. I don’t think it would be quite the same on my own, I might look a little sad.” Delia continued looking slightly disappointed.

“Well that won’t do, are you telling me you’ve been here for over two years and haven’t seen the houses of parliament? Or Madame Tussaud’s? Not even London Zoo?” Patsy asked with mock shock, Delia grinned.

“No, I’m very uncultured I’m afraid.”

“Well, Nurse Busby, that simply won’t do, we shall have to redress that.” Patsy said with a warm smile, taking another sip of drink. Delia couldn’t stop the look of surprise from taking residence upon her face.

“You don’t have to, I’m sure you’ve seen it all so many times before.” She replied quickly, looking away from the older woman.

“Nonsense, I haven’t had a good day out in months, it would be my pleasure.” Patsy replied nonchalantly, “that’s if you wanted to, I won’t be offended if not, I don’t mean to be so presumptive” she quickly added beginning to look apprehensive.

“No, no, I’d love to” Delia replied a little too quickly for her own liking, she didn’t want to sound desperate. The atmosphere felt awkward all of a sudden, both women looking slightly surprised at the situation they’d found themselves in. Delia couldn’t understand why Nurse Mount would want to spend a day with her, especially not visiting a busy tourist attraction she’d probably been to before. She must have been three or four years older than her, not that she felt particularly immature, well, at least not among her peers, but Patsy made her nervous, almost bashful, in a way she couldn’t account for, but which she had to admit was quite exciting.

“When’s your next day off?” Patsy enquired, a smile once again overtaking her features.

“Next Thursday” Delia replied, feeling oddly shy, like when she was first asked out by one of the junior doctors. She tried to shake the feeling, knowing that she was being silly. Nonetheless, she couldn’t help the shy smile she gave the other woman which seemed to make her blush very slightly in return. This woman truly was an enigma to Delia; one she very much wanted to decipher.

“I’m on a night shift that evening, we could go before if you’d like?”

“You don’t have to Patsy, we could wait until we both have a day off, I’m in no hurry.” Delia replied, not wanting to tire the woman out before a night shift, she could barely stay awake until the end some nights, even having slept all the day before.

“I want to, I’ll make sure to get a good night’s sleep the night before and drink plenty of coffee beforehand.” She smiled warmly, reassuring Delia who couldn’t help but smile back, excited to have found someone who seemed keen to be her tour guide, even if she’d been waiting two years. “It’s a date!” Patsy said happily. Delia couldn’t help but notice the butterflies in her stomach that had materialised with that statement and she grinned in response.

“Thanks Patsy” she said, “but I’d best get to bed before it gets too late, I’ve managed to stay in matron’s good books so far, it’d be a shame to ruin that now.” She drained the last of her glass and stood to leave. “Thank you for saving me from my date as well, I owe you one, well several ones” she said, gesturing with her glass by way of thanks for the drink.

“Anytime Delia, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She replied with a smile, standing to let the younger woman out of her room.

“Night” Delia said as she stepped through the door after checking the coast was clear.

“Goodnight” Patsy replied as Delia walked quietly down the corridor, shutting her door as she disappeared around the corner.

~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday morning came and Delia awoke early. She couldn’t pretend she wasn’t almost a little too excited for her day with Patsy and had been ever since arranging it last Friday. It seemed that the other woman was equally excited given their conversations during the intervening week, Patsy seeming to have spent more time around her than ever before. Delia was certainly not ungrateful for the extra attention; Patsy was an excellent teacher and was fun to be around, giving the patients as good as they gave, and Delia for that matter. She couldn’t remember having gotten on with someone so quickly and it seemed the older nurse felt the same.

Delia pushed her way through the door out of the nurses’ home, expecting to be the first one there as she was 5 minutes early, but was greeted by the site of Patsy stood outside smoking. She smiled warmly as she saw Delia come through the door, dropping the end of her cigarette and crushing it under her shoe.

“Delia” she greeted happily.

“Tough morning?” the younger woman joked, motioning to the cigarette butt. Patsy rolled her eyes, exhaling the last of the smoke from her lungs.

“Well, one did agonize over what to wear to see the chimpanzees.” She retorted with mock grandeur before breaking back into an easy smile. Delia grinned, admiring the woman’s attire, bright red slacks that ended half-way down her calves and a white blouse paired with a checked green overcoat. Her style certainly wasn’t the norm, but it suited her perfectly, showing off her elegant stature and unmistakably brilliant legs. Delia would say she was rather envious, being relatively short in comparison, but that would be lying. She was more one to appreciate than to envy.

“Shall we?” Patsy gestured towards the road interrupting Delia’s contemplation. If she didn’t know better Delia would have sworn she’d seen a slight smirk on the other woman’s face before she’d snapped up to meet her eyes. The thought made her blush slightly as she caught up with Patsy who’d turned to start walking towards the bus stop. This friendship was like none she’d ever had; Patsy made her feel a mix of nervous and excited like she’d never experienced. It was exhilarating and somewhat scary all at once, she felt that she was quickly becoming addicted to Patience Mount in a way that it wouldn’t help her to be, but that she had no desire, or power, to stop.

She took hold of the blonde woman’s arm as she came up beside her, smiling warmly as Patsy looked down at her is slight surprise. The older woman didn’t break step however and returned her smile, seeming to stand almost imperceptibly taller.

No, she had no desire for this unfathomable relationship to end.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh, penguins!” Delia exclaimed, earning a peel of laughter from Patsy as she darted towards the penguin house.

“If I’d have known it would be this entertaining to go to the zoo with you I would have invited you two years ago, I feel like a child again” the blonde said as they reached said penguins, visible through the glass as they dived in and out of the water. Delia blushed, glancing at Patsy, about to make an excuse for her outburst before she saw the warm smile the other woman was giving her, causing her to forget her embarrassment. She averted her attention back to the penguins as Patsy did.

“I think if you’d have asked me two years ago I’m afraid I probably would have declined.” She said after a minute or so of observing the birds as they darted in and out of the water. Patsy laughed.

“Was I really so intimidating?” she said, turning to look at the shorter brunette woman who nodded her head in assent.

“And, I’m sorry to say, I thought you quite rude, smirking at my… eagerness on my first day.” Patsy raised an eyebrow at the statement before a knowing smile came over her face.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I don’t smirk” she replied with a wry smile causing Delia to scoff.

“It quite dented my eighteen-year-old pride.”

“Well it was rather funny, I forget how intimidating it was to go onto the ward for the first time. Though, if it helps, I thought it was quite… cute.” The blonde punctuated the last word with a raised eyebrow and mischievous smile, Delia scowled in response, much to Patsy’s amusement. “Come on, I’m gasping for a coffee, if you’re quite finished with the penguins?” Patsy said, her eyes still twinkling with amusement. How could Delia keep up her pretence of annoyance at the site?

~~~~~~~~~~

“Do you take many young trainees out to see the sites?” Delia asked as they sat down with a coffee and a cake in the zoo’s restaurant.

“Only the Welsh ones,” Patsy replied with a playful smile before taking a sip of her coffee. “To own the truth, I haven’t really been out with anyone for quite some time, I’ve been so busy with work.”

“Well, I do feel honoured” Delia quipped and Patsy rolled her eyes in response. “It’s a shame, I’ve had such a good time today, with you” she added somewhat shyly. Patsy’s face lit up at her words and Delia was happy she’d said them.

“I’ve had a great day too” the blonde replied with a warm smile and Delia felt her heart swell at the words, glad that Patsy had enjoyed her company as much as she had hers. She was happy to find that the easy banter they shared whilst working could continue away from the hospital and their working lives. They sat in amicable silence for a short while, making a start on their cakes.

“Did you come here very much as a child, Patsy?” Delia asked after a minute or so of eating. Patsy hesitated for a second, seemingly weighing up her response.

“Not to this zoo, but in Singapore, where I lived for a short while, I went to the zoo with my sister. My father would take us, and my mother too, sometimes, when he wasn’t away on business.” Patsy smiled fondly at the memory, though it was clearly tainted by some sadness.

“I didn’t know you had a sister, did she move to London with you?” Delia asked, wondering why Patsy had never spoken of her before; it would be odd if she’d have come to live in London with her father and left her sister on the other side of the world. Patsy looked down at her half-eaten coffee cake and prodded it with her fork before taking a deep breath.

“She passed away, before I moved here.” She replied without looking up, “as did my mother.”

Delia’s stomach dropped. “Oh Patsy, I’m so sorry.” The blonde looked up, her jaw clenched and eyes sheening slightly. Delia reached across the table to squeeze her hand and Patsy watched as she did, smiling at the contact before squeezing back and withdrawing it.

“But that was a long time ago, and I only have happy memories of the zoo.” She said after a short while. Delia noted just how quickly she’d managed to regain her composure, clearly Patsy was very used to putting on a brave face. The brunette replaced her concerned look with a small smile. There was much more to Patience Mount than met the eye.

“Well thank you again for helping me to make some happy memories of it myself.” She replied. Patsy smiled and went back to her coffee as they slipped once more into a steady, but oddly comfortable silence.


End file.
